U.S. Department of Defense Awards Prenosis Up to $4.3 Million to Improve Early Sepsis Identification for Warfighters Using Point-of-Care Predictive Diagnostics

CHICAGO, Nov. 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Prenosis, Inc., a precision diagnostics company transforming clinical diagnosis with predictive intelligence, announced today that the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), a U.S. Department of Defense agency that confronts emerging threats, awarded the company up to $4.3 million for further development of point-of-care technology for the early detection of sepsis for warfighters in the field.

Warfighters in the field can often be exposed to infections, which can rapidly lead to life-threatening complications, including sepsis. It is currently difficult to identify which warfighters are at highest risk of sepsis, due to both the usual lack of practical access to a centralized clinical lab and the lack of accurate sepsis diagnostics in general. Timely and accurate identification of warfighters with the highest chance of deterioration due to sepsis could enable earlier medical evacuations and life-saving treatments. Chances of sepsis mortality have been reported to increase by 8% per hour if left untreated^[1], highlighting the need to identify and treat these cases as early as possible.

Prenosis has developed its Immunixtm Emergency Point-of-Care (ePOC) system to meet this critical need.

The Immunixtm ePOC system is one of Prenosis' advanced platforms for predictive and precision diagnostics, or prenostics, which seek to more accurately and cost-effectively predict disease.

"We are excited to partner with DTRA and that the agency has recognized the potential impact of our Immunixtm Emergency Point-of-Care system on our frontlines," said Bobby Reddy, Jr., Prenosis CEO and Co-Founder.  "Our point-of-care solution has the potential to help provide accurate and early sepsis detection in warfighters at the frontlines, and could also improve pre-hospital sepsis identification in civilian communities."

The Immunixtm ePOC System builds upon Prenosis' Immunixtm platform, which uses machine learning algorithms leveraging a wide variety of biological and clinical data designed to holistically identify sepsis as early as possible in hospital environments. In this project, Prenosis will adapt the Immunixtm platform for detection of sepsis in the warfighter population at the point-of-care by replacing the use of standard large clinical lab analyzers with a mobile system. To develop the hardware pieces of the project, Prenosis will contract with immune insights company Kypha Inc.  Prenosis has licensed Kypha's RapiPlex reader and multiplex cartridge technology platform to rapidly supply data for its proprietary algorithms at the point-of-care in the field.

The ePOC system includes Prenosis' novel ImmunoScantm point-of-care technology, wearable devices, and a central mobile application that is linked to Prenosis' proprietary NOSIStm  dataset, one of the largest hybrid biomarker-clinical datasets ever built for sepsis. 

According to the World Health Organization, more than 11 million people die from sepsis worldwide annually, more than the deaths caused by all cancers combined. Studies show that sepsis is the leading cause of death in U.S. hospitals with annual costs of treatment and rehabilitation estimated at $62 billion.^[2]  Before the COVID-19 pandemic, at least 1.7 million adults in the United States developed sepsis.  During the pandemic, this problem was greatly exacerbated, as most COVID-19 deaths are due to viral and/or bacterial sepsis.^[3]

About Prenosis
Prenosis is a health tech innovator devoted to ushering in a new era of precision diagnostics in acute care using artificial intelligence. Its Immunixtm precision diagnostics platform leverages machine learning algorithms trained on deep biological data and broad clinical data designed to more holistically capture and illuminate the complex health states of patients. Its proprietary NOSIStm dataset is one of the the largest and fastest growing hybrid biomarker-clinical dataset for sepsis care. The Sepsis ImmunoScoretm diagnostic on the Immunixtm platform has the potential to save thousands of lives and billions of dollars in healthcare spending annually. The Sepsis ImmunoScoretm is not yet approved for commercial use in the United States. 

More information: www.prenosis.com

^[1] Kumar A et al. Duration of hypotension prior to initiation of effective antimicrobial therapy is the critical determinant of survival in human septic shock. Critical Care Medicine. 2006;(34):1589-1596.

^[2] Buchman, Timothy G. PhD, MD, et al, Sepsis Among Medicare Beneficiaries: 1. The Burdens of Sepsis, 2012?2018*, Critical Care Medicine: March 2020 - Volume 48 - Issue 3 - p 276-288 doi: 10.1097/CCM.0000000000004224

^[3] Karakike, Eleni MD, et al, Coronavirus Disease 2019 as Cause of Viral Sepsis, Critical Care Medicine: July 12, 2021 - Volume - Issue - doi: 10.1097/CCM.0000000000005195

SOURCE Prenosis